I am the father of Nollywood
NWAGBO NNENYELIKE
Friday, June 10, 2005

Chris Obi-Rapu

Photo: Sun News Publishing

Today, Chris Obi-Rapu can be referred to as the father of Nollywood. This is because of his pioneering contributions to Nollywood, especially in the production of the chart-buster movie, Living In Bondage by Kenneth Nnebue. It can be recalled that the movie brought about professionalism and commitment to video production and marketing in Nigeria.

Now, the Nigerian film industry is not only one of the highest employers of labour, it is ranked the first in Africa.

This veteran producer also had his hands in the success of popular TV and movie stars like James Iroha, Davies Offor, Chika Okpala, Nkem Owoh and K.O.Kanayo. He equally handled performances by great musicians, like the late Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Sunny Ade, Victor Uwaifo, for the NTA national station in Lagos.

Background
My name is Chris Obi-Rapu from Asaba, Delta State. I was born in Enugu, but raised in Enugu and Lagos. My father worked with the Railway Corporation and he maintained two homes in Enugu and Lagos. In fact, when television came to Enugu in 1960, I was involved in children programmes for TV. I was also taking part in radio programmes. I did this while I was in the primary school. Later, I was admitted into Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Onitsha and I continued what I started in Enugu. As a kid, many of us liked Sunny Okosuns and the way he played his guitar. But our parents did not like us to emulate him. He later became a great musician.
Interest in Igbo language and film
In DMGS, I was taught by F.C. Ogbalu, a great Igbo author. He wrote many novels in Igbo Language like D.O Fagunwa who wrote Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale in Yoruba, which Wole Soyinka translated into English as The Forest of a Thousand Demons. His works in Igbo Language spurred my interest. You know that as an Asaba man, I spoke a different dialect, but those activities enabled me to improve my knowledge of Igbo Language. Onitsha market literature, like Veronica My Daughter, became very popular. There were other Igbo novels by Ogbalu and other authors, which he encouraged us to read. They all helped our movies, which were produced in Igbo.

Living in Bondage
When Living In Bondage came up as an Igbo movie, going by my knowledge in writing, I was able to effect so many changes in the dialogue. I did the same thing in Taboo.

Nollywood and Living In Bondage
When I say Living in Bondage brought a volte-face, I do not mean it started the history of film industry otherwise known as Nollywood today. If we look at the history, there had been some films that had been shot in Nigeria on celluloid by filmmakers, like Dr. Ola Balogun and Eddie Ugbomah. Balogun shot some films for Chief Hubert Ogunde. In fact, he was the one who shot the first Igbo film. You know that he grew up in Aba. Most of Ola Balogun’s films were not commercial. In 1976, I worked with Ola Balogun as an Assistant Director. I gained a lot from him.

I used to have a programme called Weekend Special on NTA network. Tam Fiofori, who had just returned from overseas, was the scriptwriter. At a stage, I told Eddie Ugbomah, who shot The Rise and Fall of Dr.Oyenusi that I would like to work for him. Assuming it worked out, that would have been the first film I would shoot. When Living in Bondage came on board, Okey Ogunjiofor, who did the script gave it to Ken Nnebue of NEK and he bought it. Remember that Ken was already making home videos in Yoruba. He was not making any headway. Mike Orihe Idi Mma was producing Igbo movies in Onitsha. Really, what they were doing fell shot of professionalism. It was just that a few people were buying the works.

In Living in Bondage, there are levels of professionalism demonstrated. From script to acting, directing to editing, name it. Subsequently Nollywood took off. If I say that I am the father of Nollywood, I do not think I am wrong. I must say that there were television dramas like Segun Olusola’s Village Headmaster, New Masquerade (which I was directing) and Ken Saro Wiwa’s Basi and Company, but they did not produce the home videos because shooting drama for television and film are different jobs.

My duties in television
I worked on musicals. When Dr. Victoria Ezeokoli was NTA’s National Director of Programmes, she brought me to produce variety entertainment shows. I started NTA dance troupe, which Dr. Ezeokoli loved so much. We hired about 30 dancers who were being paid. We brought in Dr.Yunusa Madumadie, a lecturer in University of Ibadan, as the choreographer with late Amatu Braide, a student then assisting. At that time, there was no National Troupe of Nigeria.

Brushing up John Chukwu
I brought in the late John Chukwu into the entertainment programme and I turned his comedy into a commercial venture. Before then, he was repeating his jokes, which were so boring. Tam Fiofori did the scripts. The three of us would come together to interpret the script. Then it would come out more powerfully. It increased his repertoire of jokes. That conferred on him the status of king of stand up comedy till he died.

New Masquerade
New masquerade, like Hotel de Jordan, was a provincial programme. Hotel de Jordan was making waves in Benin but could not make it to the national level. New Masquerade was really popular in the East and had national orientation. This was noticed when it was tested in Lagos and it made waves. Of course, you know that all the Nigerian ethnic groups reside in Lagos. The moment it became a network programme, it was a hit. I was working on it. In 1986, Sierra Leonean government invited New Masquerade for their Independence Day celebration. We noticed that Siaka Stevesons loved the programme and it was the only thing he listened to. I wrote a comic play which made the president laugh and he rolled on the ground. The ministers loved it too. What I did was to do a research on Sierra Leone. Then when we got to the stadium, we saw how popular Chika Okpala (Zebrudaya) was.

Fight in New Masquerade
There was a big fight we had in the production. James Iroha and Davies Offor were the two people writing the scripts, but I stopped them from writing. I have this belief that script should not be restricted to them alone. I mean, there were many episodes to be written. If you know James very well, then you know that I initiated a big fight by stopping him from doing the scripts. But what I observed was that whatever they wrote, I would still put up my own story. I asked myself how many of these stories would I be able to put up. We needed to draw up new crop of writers. We started a workshop where the likes of Peter Ene, Nkem Owoh and others came in. Initially, James fought this idea. But eventually we became good friends again when he saw that it was good for the programme. One of the reasons I did this was that I was answerable to any problem that came up.

Discovering Nigerian stars
Apart from all the members of cast in New Masquerade, others include K.O.K Anayo. I used him first in New Masquerade as a small boy who was sent on an errand, a con man collected all the money from him. In the dance we had Tony Akposiere. In Living in Bondage, Ken refused that Kenneth Okonkwo will play the role of Andy. That he had a permanent smile on his face. But I said I would work on him. At end of the day, he came out fine. In Badagry when I did Memorial Hospital, there were many new hands that came to limelight. I love working and discovering new artistes. In fact, he was the most popular in Africa.

Fela and other musicians
Among the musicians I worked with was Fela; others are Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Victor Uwaifo, E.T. Mensah, Manu Du Bango. I must say that Fela was like a big brother to me. He knew my elder brother in England and that brought us together. There was an arrangement I made for Fela to do 13 episodes for NTA. But it seemed NTA was afraid of him. So the show could not go on.
Fela had a revolutionary spirit. I explained to them that he was my very good friend and that he would not disappoint me, but the management refused. I wish I achieved that. It would have been the comprehensive works of Fela recorded by the TV. And I did not think any TV station did that before he died. In fact, I worked with and directed many bands, both from Nigeria and Africa. These included bands that came from abroad to Lagos between 1974 and 1984. Then, I directed Bar Beach shows and I was the first director of Art Alade show. It was a super show and the biggest show in Nigeria.

NTA grade A recording
I directed many of NTA’s grade A productions then. These were mostly outside Broadcasting (OB) Van programmes that could be live. Some of them include 30 Years’ Anniversary of Television in Nigeria. I directed this from the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
We had four OB vans and made the coverage from Victoria Island. The handing over when Nigeria moved its capital from Lagos to Abuja. I started the directing from Lagos. As we arrived Abuja, we continued showing it live. I also covered the first summit by the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held in Abuja. There are more including football.

Steve Wonder/FESTAC’77
In FESTAC’77, I was among those who issued identity cards to participants. This gave me the opportunity to make friends with many artistes, including the great musician, Steve Wonder. He was a fantastic person. He was always visiting me and we walked round town. The government did not want to give the journalists identity cards. But I really issued to many of them.

America
I traveled to the United States of America in 1995. That was after my retirement from NTA having put in 22 years of service. I went there to see what television and filmmaking are at the international level. I see America as being good in film and television. I currently live in the US. I only come to Nigeria and go back. My family is there.
Since I left Nigeria, I noticed that the culture of producing Igbo movies has died unlike the Yoruba movies, which are being released in large numbers. I am still interested in making Igbo films. I want filmmakers to consider the production of more Igbo films. In fact, that is the reason I shot Laff On in Igbo. It is a collection of jokes that featured many great comedians like Nkem Owoh and others. It would enhance and uplift our culture as well as our literature.